Analysis of The Wind begun to knead the Grass

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



The Wind begun to knead the Grass—
As Women do a Dough—
He flung a Hand full at the Plain—
A Hand full at the Sky—
The Leaves unhooked themselves from Trees—
And started all abroad—
The Dust did scoop itself like Hands—
And throw away the Road—
The Wagons—quickened on the Street—
The Thunders gossiped low—
The Lightning showed a Yellow Head—
And then a livid Toe—
The Birds put up the Bars to Nests—
The Cattle flung to Barns—
Then came one drop of Giant Rain—
And then, as if the Hands
That held the Dams—had parted hold—
The Waters Wrecked the Sky—
But overlooked my Father's House—
Just Quartering a Tree—

The Wind begun to rock the Grass
With threatening Tunes and low—
He threw a Menace at the Earth—
A Menace at the Sky.

The Leaves unhooked themselves from Trees—
And started all abroad
The Dust did scoop itself like Hands
And threw away the Road.

The Wagons quickened on the Streets
The Thunder hurried slow—
The Lightning showed a Yellow Beak
And then a livid Claw.

The Birds put up the Bars to Nests—
The Cattle fled to Barns—
There came one drop of Giant Rain
And then as if the Hands

That held the Dams had parted hold
The Waters Wrecked the Sky,
But overlooked my Father's House—
Just quartering a Tree—


Scheme abcdEFGhxbxbIjcGkDLM abxd EFGh xbxx IjcG kDLM
Poetic Form Etheree  (30%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 01011101 110101 11011101 011101 0110111 010101 01110111 010101 01010101 01011 01010101 010101 01110111 010111 11111101 011101 11011101 010101 1101101 1101 01011101 1100101 11010101 010101 0110111 010101 01110111 010101 01010101 010101 01010101 010101 01110111 010111 11111101 011101 11011101 010101 1101101 1101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,276
Words 234
Sentences 4
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 20, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 40
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 159
Words per stanza (avg) 38
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 13, 2023

1:10 min read
199

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

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